Enter opens the highlighted result. Esc closes.

Claude Sonnet 5 vs Grok 4.5

Updated October 21, 2026. 114 benchmarks have a result for both. Coding is ranked on the Vibe Coding Index; every other board is shown as published.

Replace Claude Sonnet 5 Replace Grok 4.5
Claude Sonnet 5Anthropic
Coding
63.5
Overall
38.2
Output $/M
$10.00
48
Grok 4.5xAI
Coding
75.5
Overall
38.8
Output $/M
$6.00
62
vs boards won of 114 shared, 4 tied

Decision reading

Pick Grok 4.5 for coding: it scores 75.5 on the Vibe Coding Index against 63.5 for Claude Sonnet 5.

Pick Claude Sonnet 5 when the context window is larger, 1M against 500K tokens, or when what matters is Terminal-Bench 4 (Vals AI) or Vibe Code Bench (Vals AI), where it leads.

Model AClaude Sonnet 5Anthropic63.5/1002 independent benchmarks$1.87 per solved taskModel BGrok 4.5xAI75.5/1002 independent benchmarks$0.62 per solved task
Shared results
114
Claude Sonnet 5 only
6
Grok 4.5 only
6
Like-for-like categories
8 of 9

Shared results can support a head-to-head reading. Results only one model has describe coverage, not superiority.

Which one for your work

Each card is decided by one number both models carry. Where only one has it, the card says so and makes no call.

At a glance

Coding index
Claude Sonnet 5 63.5 from 2 benchmarks, Grok 4.5 75.5 from 2 benchmarks.
Widest category
Math, 10.6 points apart on average over 6 shared benchmarks.
Widest single gap
ProofBench: Claude Sonnet 5 77.0% against Grok 4.5 31.0%, 46.0 points apart on a 0 to 100 scale.
Output price
Claude Sonnet 5 $10.00 against Grok 4.5 $6.00 per million output tokens, 1.7x apart.
Context window
Claude Sonnet 5 takes 1M tokens, Grok 4.5 500K.

Benchmark by benchmark

First the score: boards each model leads, per category, where both have a result. Then every board, a category to a fold; bars are each result on a 0 to 100 scale, so compare the two in a row, not one row with another.

Boards won, where both have a result
CategoryClaude Sonnet 5BarsGrok 4.5Ties
Coding10111 tie
Intelligence11
Agentic work1081 tie
Reasoning67
Math42
Knowledge47
Web design342 ties
General1022
All shared boards48624 ties
CodingLike-for-likeFour of these boards feed the Vibe Coding Index1011
Coding benchmarks for Claude Sonnet 5 and Grok 4.5
BenchmarkClaude Sonnet 5Grok 4.5Leader
LiveBench coding74.7%94.3%Grok 4.5
LMArena WebDev15401553Grok 4.5
AA Coding Index71.572.4Grok 4.5
LiveCodeBench (Vals AI)82.4%87.3%Grok 4.5
SWE-bench Verified (Vals AI)79.6%86.6%Grok 4.5
Terminal-Bench 4 (Vals AI)10.6%8.6%Claude Sonnet 5
Vibe Code Bench (Vals AI)81.3%69.0%Claude Sonnet 5
Code migration (Vals AI)44.4%36.6%Claude Sonnet 5
ProgramBench (Vals AI)0.0%0.0%Tie
IOI (Vals AI)45.0%40.6%Claude Sonnet 5
Terminal-Bench 2.1 (Vals AI)74.5%67.8%Claude Sonnet 5
Vibe Code Bench 1-100 (Vals AI)13.8%Not measuredOnly Claude Sonnet 5 measured
SkillsBench (Vals AI)46.5%66.0%Grok 4.5
CyberBench (Vals AI)70.3%71.0%Grok 4.5
SciCode54.3%55.0%Grok 4.5
FrontierCode42.7%42.4%Claude Sonnet 5
GSO-Bench37.3%Not measuredOnly Claude Sonnet 5 measured
WeirdML68.8%46.4%Claude Sonnet 5
ALE-Bench1463.11309.3Claude Sonnet 5
LMArena Text: coding14831474Claude Sonnet 5
LMArena Text: software and IT14741471Claude Sonnet 5
LMArena WebDev: React15411556Grok 4.5
LMArena WebDev: HTML15271567Grok 4.5
LMArena WebDev: from an image15401562Grok 4.5
Neither model has a result on the other 14 boards here
IntelligenceLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index11
Intelligence benchmarks for Claude Sonnet 5 and Grok 4.5
BenchmarkClaude Sonnet 5Grok 4.5Leader
AA Intelligence Index38.238.8Grok 4.5
Epoch Capabilities Index156.9154.1Claude Sonnet 5
Agentic workLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index108
Agentic work benchmarks for Claude Sonnet 5 and Grok 4.5
BenchmarkClaude Sonnet 5Grok 4.5Leader
AA Agentic Index43.641.2Claude Sonnet 5
Design Arena: agents building web apps12451217Claude Sonnet 5
Design Arena: agents building full-stack apps12491249Tie
Design Arena: agents building mobile apps12151221Grok 4.5
Design Arena: agents building Android apps12311242Grok 4.5
Design Arena: agents building Godot games12251229Grok 4.5
Design Arena: agents building games12271235Grok 4.5
Design Arena: HTML slides12181204Claude Sonnet 5
Design Arena: PowerPoint slides12161232Grok 4.5
Design Arena: spreadsheets1004Not measuredOnly Claude Sonnet 5 measured
LiveBench research82.8%85.9%Grok 4.5
LiveBench browser72.0%44.0%Claude Sonnet 5
LiveBench long agentic39.0%27.9%Claude Sonnet 5
SREBench (Vals AI)0.4%0.8%Grok 4.5
Finance Agent (Vals AI)53.9%48.4%Claude Sonnet 5
Tax Agent Bench (Vals AI)29.4%24.9%Claude Sonnet 5
Legal Research Bench (Vals AI)41.8%38.0%Claude Sonnet 5
Excel Modeling Benchmark (Vals AI)66.3%52.9%Claude Sonnet 5
Terminal-Bench-Science (Vals AI)5.7%Not measuredOnly Claude Sonnet 5 measured
Time Horizon Index (Vals AI)Not measured6.3%Only Grok 4.5 measured
APEX-Agents54.5%56.2%Grok 4.5
PostTrainBenchNot measured23.4%Only Grok 4.5 measured
Vending-Bench 2$6,378$3,887Claude Sonnet 5
LMArena SearchNot measured1216Only Grok 4.5 measured
Neither model has a result on the other 15 boards here
ReasoningLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index67
Reasoning benchmarks for Claude Sonnet 5 and Grok 4.5
BenchmarkClaude Sonnet 5Grok 4.5Leader
GPQA Diamond88.9%92.9%Grok 4.5
LiveBench reasoning88.7%87.2%Claude Sonnet 5
MMMU Pro (Vals AI)83.0%61.8%Claude Sonnet 5
GPQA Diamond (Artificial Analysis run)91.1%93.1%Grok 4.5
Humanity's Last Exam (Artificial Analysis run)41.3%42.7%Grok 4.5
GPQA Diamond (Epoch AI run)90.5%93.4%Grok 4.5
ARC-AGINot measured87.2%Only Grok 4.5 measured
ARC-AGI-2Not measured52.6%Only Grok 4.5 measured
SimpleBench60.6%70.0%Grok 4.5
Chess puzzles45.0%35.0%Claude Sonnet 5
Mystery game puzzles35.0%Not measuredOnly Claude Sonnet 5 measured
LMArena Text: hard prompts14611462Grok 4.5
LMArena Text: expert14891465Claude Sonnet 5
LMArena Text: hard prompts in English14641464Claude Sonnet 5
LMArena Vision: diagrams12931304Grok 4.5
LMArena Vision: homework13111295Claude Sonnet 5
Neither model has a result on the other 5 boards here
MathLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index42
Math benchmarks for Claude Sonnet 5 and Grok 4.5
BenchmarkClaude Sonnet 5Grok 4.5Leader
OTIS Mock AIME94.7%97.8%Grok 4.5
FrontierMath, tiers 1 to 365.6%57.2%Claude Sonnet 5
FrontierMath, tier 429.3%24.4%Claude Sonnet 5
ProofBench77.0%31.0%Claude Sonnet 5
LMArena Text: math14671460Claude Sonnet 5
LMArena Text: mathematical work14811482Grok 4.5
Neither model has a result on the other 7 boards here
KnowledgeLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index47
Knowledge benchmarks for Claude Sonnet 5 and Grok 4.5
BenchmarkClaude Sonnet 5Grok 4.5Leader
MMLU Pro87.5%89.2%Grok 4.5
LegalBench (Vals AI)83.9%86.0%Grok 4.5
CorpFin (Vals AI)67.0%67.4%Grok 4.5
TaxEval (Vals AI)75.6%71.7%Claude Sonnet 5
MortgageTax (Vals AI)70.0%61.8%Claude Sonnet 5
MedCode (Vals AI)47.5%43.3%Claude Sonnet 5
SimpleQA Verified33.7%48.3%Grok 4.5
LMArena Text: science14601464Grok 4.5
LMArena Text: medicine and healthcare14421440Claude Sonnet 5
LMArena Text: legal and government14541463Grok 4.5
LMArena Text: business and finance14361441Grok 4.5
Neither model has a result on the other 6 boards here
Web designLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index34
Web design benchmarks for Claude Sonnet 5 and Grok 4.5
BenchmarkClaude Sonnet 5Grok 4.5Leader
Design Arena: websites12741281Grok 4.5
Design Arena: UI components12791279Tie
Design Arena: game dev12781263Claude Sonnet 5
Design Arena: data viz12511267Grok 4.5
Design Arena: 3D12611257Claude Sonnet 5
Design Arena: all code categories12761276Tie
Design Arena: SVG11931215Grok 4.5
Design Arena: ASCII art12071257Grok 4.5
LiveBench design82.0%78.1%Claude Sonnet 5
GeneralLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index1022
General benchmarks for Claude Sonnet 5 and Grok 4.5
BenchmarkClaude Sonnet 5Grok 4.5Leader
LiveBench data analysis71.7%73.0%Grok 4.5
Public Benefits Bench (Vals AI)66.0%Not measuredOnly Claude Sonnet 5 measured
SAGE (Vals AI)48.9%35.0%Claude Sonnet 5
MedScribe (Vals AI)76.0%86.9%Grok 4.5
Vals Multimodal Index68.8%63.4%Claude Sonnet 5
Long context reasoning (AA-LCR)82.0%79.3%Claude Sonnet 5
DTBench92.5%96.5%Grok 4.5
LMCA50.0%45.2%Claude Sonnet 5
Surface Evolver Bench60.0%74.4%Grok 4.5
Furniture assemblyNot measured22.5%Only Grok 4.5 measured
LMArena Text14421448Grok 4.5
LMArena Text: instruction following14521445Claude Sonnet 5
LMArena Text: creative writing14161442Grok 4.5
LMArena Vision12731287Grok 4.5
LMArena Text: English14501453Grok 4.5
LMArena Text: non-English14311440Grok 4.5
LMArena Text: Chinese14781495Grok 4.5
LMArena Text: German14421448Grok 4.5
LMArena Text: Japanese14221430Grok 4.5
LMArena Text: Korean14121406Claude Sonnet 5
LMArena Text: French14631457Claude Sonnet 5
LMArena Text: Spanish14381451Grok 4.5
LMArena Text: Russian14501449Claude Sonnet 5
LMArena Text: Polish14251432Grok 4.5
LMArena Text: multi-turn14531456Grok 4.5
LMArena Text: longer queries14621462Claude Sonnet 5
LMArena Text: writing and language14361445Grok 4.5
LMArena Text: entertainment and media14111434Grok 4.5
LMArena Vision: English12751285Grok 4.5
LMArena Vision: Chinese13311345Grok 4.5
LMArena Vision: reading text12881293Grok 4.5
LMArena Vision: humor12611276Grok 4.5
LMArena Vision: creative writing12461293Grok 4.5
LMArena Document14661452Claude Sonnet 5
Neither model has a result on the other 12 boards here
Image generationNot comparablePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index0 boards, none shared
Image generation benchmarks for Claude Sonnet 5 and Grok 4.5
BenchmarkClaude Sonnet 5Grok 4.5Leader
Neither model has a result on 5 boards here

What each workload costs

Three fixed token mixes at each model's listed price, so per-token rates become a bill.

Chat turn

1K input + 500 output tokens

Claude Sonnet 5$0.0070Fits in one request
Grok 4.5$0.0050Fits in one request

Grok 4.5 costs less

Repository review

50K input + 3K output tokens

Claude Sonnet 5$0.130Fits in one request
Grok 4.5$0.118Fits in one request

Grok 4.5 costs less

Agent loop

200K input + 10K output tokens

Claude Sonnet 5$0.500Fits in one request
Grok 4.5$0.460Fits in one request

Grok 4.5 costs less

Listed OpenRouter rates, without cache or batch discounts. A workload that does not fit a model's context window would need splitting.

Specification differences

The leading value in a row is marked; a row with a missing value names no leader. Our two rows are marked in red.

Specifications of Claude Sonnet 5 and Grok 4.5
SpecificationAnthropic Claude Sonnet 5SpaceXAI Grok 4.5
MakerAnthropicxAI
WeightsNo public weights listedNo public weights listed
ReleasedJune 30, 2026July 8, 2026
Context window1M500K
Input $/Mtok$2.00$2.00
Output $/Mtok$10.00$6.00
Coding index63.575.5
Independent measurements behind it22
Cost per solved task$1.87$0.62
SourceOpenRouter listingOpenRouter listing

Questions

Is Claude Sonnet 5 better than Grok 4.5 for coding?

Pick Grok 4.5 for coding: it scores 75.5 on the Vibe Coding Index against 63.5 for Claude Sonnet 5. Pick Claude Sonnet 5 when the context window is larger, 1M against 500K tokens, or when what matters is Terminal-Bench 4 (Vals AI) or Vibe Code Bench (Vals AI), where it leads.

Which is cheaper, Claude Sonnet 5 or Grok 4.5?

Claude Sonnet 5 costs $2.00 per million input tokens and $10.00 per million output tokens; Grok 4.5 costs $2.00 and $6.00. Per solved SWE-bench Verified task, Claude Sonnet 5 costs $1.87 and Grok 4.5 $0.62.

Which has the bigger context window, Claude Sonnet 5 or Grok 4.5?

Claude Sonnet 5, with 1M tokens against 500K.

How many benchmarks is the Claude Sonnet 5 vs Grok 4.5 comparison based on?

114 benchmarks have a result for both models as of October 21, 2026. Claude Sonnet 5's coding index rests on 2 independent benchmarks and Grok 4.5's on 2. Where only one model has a result, the page says so instead of naming a winner.

Compare next

Embed this comparison on your site

Free under CC BY 4.0, while the source link stays visible. Preview the frame · Terms and other embeds

<iframe src="https://llmbenchmark.ai/embed/compare/claude-sonnet-5-vs-grok-4-5" title="Claude Sonnet 5 vs Grok 4.5, LLMBenchmark.ai" width="100%" height="360" style="border:0;max-width:100%" loading="lazy"></iframe>
<p style="font:13px/1.4 sans-serif;margin:6px 0 0">Source: <a href="https://llmbenchmark.ai/compare/claude-sonnet-5-vs-grok-4-5">LLMBenchmark.ai, Claude Sonnet 5 vs Grok 4.5</a></p>